World-renowned neurosurgeon James Doty, author of the New York Times best seller Into the Magic Shop, has a compelling story that credits mindfulness and visualization as important first steps that turned a life of poverty into one of success and wealth.

Now director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, Doty’s research and other scientific evidence have revealed a clear antidote for the epidemic of loneliness, depression, addiction, and anxiety so prevalent in this country: Compassion.

Here’s Doty on his Huffington Post column:

“Compassion is the recognition of another’s suffering and a desire to alleviate that suffering. Often brushed off as a hippy dippy religious term irrelevant in modern society, rigorous empirical data supports the view of all major world religions: compassion is good.”

You can start with compassion being good for your health. As my Inc. colleague Peter Economy recently wrote, research validates that a compassionate lifestyle can help you live longer. “In order to benefit from better mental health, increased physical health, and a faster recovery from disease, we must connect with others in a meaningful way,” writes Economy.